Kinsella: Not everyone loves a parade

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In 1971, a Canadian politician could probably get away with snubbing the gay community.

In 1981? Probably then, too.

1991? Getting tougher.

2001? Getting a lot tougher.

2011? Pretty much impossible.

That’s why the decision of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to skip the city’s annual Pride parade attracted a lot of attention last week.

It’s the first time in a long time a Toronto mayor has snubbed the powerful gay community. Among other things, it’s kind of bizarre.

Ford’s excuse — he’s continuing a 30-year family tradition of gathering at the cottage in Huntsville.

“Last year I was there during the campaign,” Ford told reporters last week. “We’re there every year.”

It just doesn’t add up. His very own brother, a Toronto city councillor, says he plans to miss the Ford family cottage retreat to take in Pride festivities.

Why, you might ask, is Ford courting trouble? Is it because he’s uncomfortable with gays and lesbians? In the past, it’s true Ford has said some pretty insensitive things. Like last year, when he agreed with a political candidate he backed that gays could “dismantle,” quote unquote, civilization. Or back in 2006, when he said if you’re not gay, “you won’t get AIDS, probably.” Or the time in 2001 when he said financial support for a video about gay issues was “absolutely disgusting.”

No one knows for sure, but experts seem to peg Canada’s gay and lesbian population as high as 15%. If true, that’s a lot of voters.

In a tight race, anywhere in Canada, that many votes decide who wins and who doesn’t.

Last time I checked, too, gays and lesbians pay their taxes, they obey the law and they serve their country in times of war. They’re citizens: Nothing more, nothing less.

Now, at this point in the column, Ford’s more vocal supporters — he calls them, and I’m not making this up, “the Ford Nation” — can be counted upon to angrily defend their hero’s decision. Ford, they’ll tell you, is simply representing the conservative, family values stuff he promised to bring to City Hall just about a year ago.

But is that really accurate? Are “conservative” values — small and large “C” — so very inconsistent with the values of Canada’s gay community? Can’t you be gay and conservative at the same time?

Well, I’m Liberal and I’m straight, but I’ve been around Canadian politics long enough to know backrooms — Conservative backrooms in particular — are literally bursting at the seams with gays.

Many of them are in the closet, but they’re assuredly there.

From the Prime Minister’s Office to multiple Conservative ministerial offices, gays work as chiefs of staff and top staffers.

That’s not at all: Some of Stephen Harper’s senior cabinet ministers — including some of the ones he entrusts with the most power — are happily gay. So too not a few of his MPs, including some of the “star” variety.

Outside Ottawa, it was widely known late Conservative New Brunswick premier Richard Hatfield was gay — but he kept getting elected for nearly two decades. And so on.

Now, you can be forgiven for being a bit confused some days by the apparent disconnect between Conservative people and Conservative policies.

Conservative parties don’t particularly like gay marriage, or adoption by gays, or gays in the military. That much is true, “Ford Nation.”

So why are so many gays fond of the Conservative Party — when the Conservative Party doesn’t seem to be very fond of them? Good question. I’ve often wondered that myself.

But one thing’s for sure: The Conservative named Rob Ford isn’t just offside with history.

He’s offside with his party, too. And I wonder if he’s about to learn — in this case, at least — Pride does indeed goeth before the fall.

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In May 1939, the ocean liner St. Louis departed Hamburg with nearly 1,000 Jews onboard. They were heading to Cuba to escape Nazi persecution. When they arrived in Havana two weeks later, every Jew aboard was denied entry.